Winter Seasonal Beer Christmas in Belgium

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Poobah58

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
Joined
Jun 24, 2007
Messages
2,233
Reaction score
87
Location
New Milford, CT
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
WY-1214
Yeast Starter
2000mL
Batch Size (Gallons)
5
Original Gravity
1.075
Final Gravity
1.012
Boiling Time (Minutes)
90
IBU
22
Color
22.6
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
14 Days (64-72F)
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
14 Days (66F)
Additional Fermentation
28 Days (40F)
Tasting Notes
Perfect cold winter day brew. Spices (especially the ginger) shine!
Gonna brew this up again this wekend. Did it last year and it was a big hit so I thought I would post. A few changes from last year:
Using a Chimay yeast cake in lieu of the Unibroue yeast. Adding a little more orange peel and cutting the ginger a bit.
Based on my stock I'm using Victory in lieu of Biscuit and Cara20 in lieu Caramunich(47). Also replacing Turbinado with more Candi Syrup.
This was a real good beer last year. It did not last too far past the holidays.
It's low in bittering to let the spices shine thru. It would probably make a damn fine dubbel on it's own without the spices!

Xmas in Belgium
Belgian Dubbel

Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Time: 75 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00

Ingredients:
9 lbs Pilsen (1.8 SRM) 72.00 %
8.0 oz Cara 20 (23.0 SRM) 4.00 %
8.0 oz Wheat Malt (2.2 SRM) 4.00 %
4.0 oz Special B (148.0 SRM) 2.00 %
2.0 oz Aromatic Malt (19.0 SRM) 1.00 %
2.0 oz Victory Malt (28.0 SRM) 1.00 %
1 lbs 4.0 oz Amber Candi Syrup (45.0 SRM) 10.00 %
12.0 oz Dark Candi Syrup (180.0 SRM) 6.00 %
0.33 oz Styrian Goldings [2.50 %] (90 min) (Mash Hop) 0.7 IBU
0.33 oz Styrian Goldings [3.00 %] (90 min) (FW Hop) 3.4 IBU
0.83 oz Spalt [5.60 %] (60 min) 17.9 IBU
0.13 oz Grains Of Paradise, Crushed (Boil 5.0 min)
0.25 oz Cardamom, Crushed (Boil 5.0 min)
1.00 oz Sweet Orange Peel, Crushed (Boil 5.0 min)
1.33 oz Ginger, Candied (Boil 0.0 min)
2.50 oz Zante Currants (Boil 0.0 min)
0.50 tsp Coriander Seed, Whole (Secondary 14.0 days)
1.33 oz Ginger, Candied (Secondary 14.0 days)
2.50 oz Zante Currants (Secondary 14.0 days)
1.00 Madagascar Vanilla Bean (Secondary 14.0 days)
1.00 Madagascar Vanilla Bean (Secondary 3.0 days) (If needed)
1 Pkgs Belgian Ale (Wyeast Labs #1214) (Chimay)

Beer Profile:
Est Original Gravity: 1.071 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.017 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.97 %
Bitterness: 22.0 IBU
Est Color: 22.6 SRM

Mash:
10 min Dough In @131F
75 min Saacrification @149F
10 min Mash Out @168F

Notes:
Pitch yeast at 64F and let rise to mid 70's.
 
Might actually try this next weekend.

I got a question though.

Ever have any sanitization issues with introducing all those things in secondary?
 
Racked version 2 today. Chimay yeast took it from 1.080 to 1.009! Added vanilla, ginger, currants and coriander. Sucks I gotta wait 2 weeks to keg. Tastes great already...
 
Racked version 2 today. Chimay yeast took it from 1.080 to 1.009! Added vanilla, ginger, currants and coriander. Sucks I gotta wait 2 weeks to keg. Tastes great already...

Hey...I'm going to brew this up next week. I'm curious about the Grains of Paradise. I've read a lot about them and how to go cautiously with the amount you add. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like 0.13 ounce computes out to about 3.7 grams for 5 gallons. Is that right and do you crush yours before you add them?

Thanks a bunch...I'm stoked...

Chad
 
Merry XMAS!

img_0006.jpg
 
I just got everything I need for this recipe, will be brewing this up on sunday. Not christmas anymore but it will do just fine I hope!
 
Just taped it for a friend who just had a boy. Man is this delicious, I did not use ginger. But wow! the cardamon and the vanilla play so well of of each other. Thanks! I will brew this up again for Christmas. :tank:

hails to the poobah!!!
 
Brewed this beer today. Wanted to make a christmas belgian and this recipe looked like just the ticket. The sample tasted awesome! I'll keep you updated on how it turns out.
 
Hey Poobah

I'm gonna make this on Sunday and have a couple of questions.

1. Do you chop up the currants and the candied ginger?
2. What does the mash hop and the fw hop mean? fw goes in at the sparge and mash goes in at strike?
3. Are grains of paradise and paradise seeds the same thing? the lhbs said they were but he seemed really unsure of him self.

Thanks for the help and the recipe. This is gonna be bottled and given as x-mass presents!
 
Hey Poobah

I'm gonna make this on Sunday and have a couple of questions.

1. Do you chop up the currants and the candied ginger?
2. What does the mash hop and the fw hop mean? fw goes in at the sparge and mash goes in at strike?
3. Are grains of paradise and paradise seeds the same thing? the lhbs said they were but he seemed really unsure of him self.

Thanks for the help and the recipe. This is gonna be bottled and given as x-mass presents!

1. No
2. Mash hop = adding hops directly to the mash. FWH = add hops to the boil kettle while sparging.
3. yes they are one in the same.

Good luck and happy brewing!
 
Made a variation of this a couple of weeks ago, currently sitting it secondary - will be bottling in the next day or so.

Batch Size: 5 Gallon
Boil Time: 60 minutes
Brewhouse efficiency: 70%

Ingredients:
9 lbs 8.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) 73.1 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) 3.8 %
8.0 oz Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) 3.8 %
4.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) 1.9 %
2.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) 1.0 %
2.0 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) 1.0 %
1 lbs 4.0 oz Candi Syrup, Light Amber (45.0 SRM) 9.6 %
12.0 oz Candi Syrup, Deep Amber (180.0 SRM) 5.8 %
0.85 oz Tettnang [5.20 %] - Boil 60.0 min - 13.7 IBUs
0.32 oz Styrian Goldings [4.01 %] - Boil 60.0 min - 4.0 IBUs
0.50 oz Ginger Root (Boil 15.0 mins)
0.25 oz Cardamom (Boil 5.0 mins)
0.14 oz Grains of Paradise, Crushed (Boil 5.0 mins)
2.50 oz Currants, Zante (Boil 5.0 mins)
1.00 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 mins)
2.50 oz Currants, Zante (Secondary 14.0 days)
1.00 oz Cocoa Nibs (Secondary 14.0 days)
1.00 Items Madagascar Vanilla Bean (Secondary 14.0 days)
0.50 tsp Coriander Seed (Secondary 14.0 days)

Yeast
Trappist High Gravity (Wyeast Labs #3787), using a 2L yeast starter.

Beer Profile:
Est Original Gravity: 1.068 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.5 %
Bitterness: 17.7 IBUs
Est Color: 23.6 SRM

I used fresh chopped ginger root rather than candied ginger, and fresh peeled orange peel. I used whole green cardamom pods which I crushed along with the grains of paradise.

For the ingredients in the secondary, I sliced open the vanilla bean, extracted the seeds, chopped up the bean and put the whole lot in a container. I then added the cocoa nibs, coriander and currants to the container and poured in enough bourbon to cover it all. I let this sit for 24 hours. It smelled deliciously like xmas cake.

My plan here is that the bourbon soaks up a lot of flavour from the vanilla and cocoa nibs whilst also sanitizing the whole mix. As it was a relatively small amount it should add only a very subtle bourbon flavour to the beer.

I put the whole mixture into a sanitized hop sock with a sanitized shot glass (for weight) into a carboy and racked the beer onto it for secondary fermentation.
 
Very interesting spice choices. I have been hunting for a Belgian Christmas Ale I like the looks of. Spices look super expensive though, I'd really like to sample one before taking the leap o_O Where do you source your currants from and what do you feel it adds to the beer?
 
Very interesting spice choices. I have been hunting for a Belgian Christmas Ale I like the looks of. Spices look super expensive though, I'd really like to sample one before taking the leap o_O Where do you source your currants from and what do you feel it adds to the beer?

You can get Zante Currents from any grocery store. Just gives a little body and possibly a wee bit of flavor.
 
Huh, I've seen people mention them, but I've never actually seen them in a grocery store. Would they be around the raisins?
How much aging time are you giving yours?
 
Sounds delish! What's your gravity at?
I'm gonna rack to secondary this weekend.
We may have to do a swap...

So I just bottled mine - final gravity was 1.007 which means the ABV is ~8.3%.

It settles and cleared considerably in secondary and is now a nice golden brown colour. There's a lot of ginger in the aroma but it is fairly subtle in the taste. The vanilla and phenols from the yeast come through a lot too. Taste wise it is quite sweet - caramel, dates, raisins, vanilla. Some booze and warmth of the finish.

Now of course this is just the observations at bottling, I expect after 30+ days of bottle conditioning it should become a lot more interesting.
 
Just trying a bottle of mine now.

It is a nice slightly cloudy light brown with a pretty good pale head. The ginger has dominated the aroma and the taste a little more than I would have liked, although not quite as much when it warms up a little. Definitely best drunk at about 10-15C (50-60F) rather than at fridge temp.

Definitely has a good xmas character to it, the spices add some good background complexity.

Next year I think I'll downplay the ginger somewhat and go with a little more vanilla and cocoa nibs.

I'll definitely keep some of this cellared though and see if the balance changes with age. After all it is still relatively young.
 
The ginger will fade. The first year I made this there was way too much of it. Maybe the ginger root is more potent than the candied stuff. Just tapped mine last night. I didn't have enough vanilla beans so the ginger is coming thru but not too much. I also used another yeast. Like the Chimay yeast much better. Should be a big hit for Saturday's XMAS party!!!
 
It's gone!!! We had a Christmas party last night and polished off the whole 5 gallons!!! Everyone really liked it. Thank god I also had some Tripel...:drunk:
P.S. my head hurts today!
 
I see multiple fermentation steps here. Are you actually re-pitching? Or are you simply moving this to another carboy?
 
My brew starts Saturday morning. I am pretty excited about this one. I intend for it to be a surprise for the guests at our party.
 
Wait so you aren't following the same fermentation schedule anymore? What are your time / temps now? This is headed to bottle. I'm not kegging yet...
 
Wait so you aren't following the same fermentation schedule anymore? What are your time / temps now? This is headed to bottle. I'm not kegging yet...
Didn't really change anything. I ferment for a month then carb and keep in the fridge for another month. The recipe format calls it "additional fermentation" but that's not really true. If you bottle, do the 2 week primary and 2 week secondary. That should give the yeast time to clean up after themselves and give the flavors a chance to meld. Then bottle.
 
Didn't really change anything. I ferment for a month then carb and keep in the fridge for another month. The recipe format calls it "additional fermentation" but that's not really true. If you bottle, do the 2 week primary and 2 week secondary. That should give the yeast time to clean up after themselves and give the flavors a chance to meld. Then bottle.

Awesome. Thank you very much for the advice.
 
Didn't really change anything. I ferment for a month then carb and keep in the fridge for another month. The recipe format calls it "additional fermentation" but that's not really true. If you bottle, do the 2 week primary and 2 week secondary. That should give the yeast time to clean up after themselves and give the flavors a chance to meld. Then bottle.

So I pitched at 64 and set the fermenter to 66. This went absolutely nuts for a good 3 days. I slowly (2 deg a day) brought this up to 72 which is where its at now and activity has slowed considerably.

Its been a week this upcoming Saturday and I plan to leave it there for another week. The question I had was should I drop the temp in the fermenter for the two weeks of the secondary / clearing step? I saw you had 40F on there but I wasn't sure if that was after bottling.

Any help would be appreciated...
 
Let it ride in the 70's thru the rest of primary and secondary. I drop into the 40's after keging. If you bottle you'll have to carb up first then condition if desired. I like clear belgians. Easier to do when in a keg.
 
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